Battle of Parma

The Battle of Parma occurred in early August 1796 when General Napoleon Bonaparte's 1,617-strong French army assaulted the Austrian-occupied city of Parma in northern Italy during the Italian Campaign of the French Revolutionary Wars. The 1,204-strong Austrian garrison under Sebastian Ratzlaff failed to attack the French forces as they outflanked the Austrians from two sides; the Austrians had the high ground and the advantage of being able to initiate urban warfare, but the French managed to swing around the Austrian army and destroy it. The Austrian defeat led to the fall of Parma to the French, and Parma was liberated by the First French Republic.